


Fort.

by EmmyGreene



Series: Little Things. [8]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 05:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10587777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmyGreene/pseuds/EmmyGreene
Summary: Daryl spends the afternoon helping Beth look after Judith.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It drives me crazy how Judith is nearly always in her crib or sitting silently in someones lap, hardly ever actually acting like a toddler so I imagined this... also it's really hard for me to really imagine any scene where Daryl isn't super serious... I even googled 'Had Daryl Dixon smiled?' and all that came up were pics of Norman! Anyway this is what I like to write, the more human moments we don't see on screen.. no man can me brooding all the time. Plus I have plans for something a little heavier for the next one so wanted something super light and fluffy for this.

Just after lunch Daryl found her upstairs, rolling around on the floor giggling with Judith. Without hesitating her dropped to the floor and tickled the toddler, eliciting a peal of laughter from her. Beth sat up and pulled Judith into her lap.

‘Dah-el’ the little girl said.

‘That’s right. We like Daryl don’t we?’ Beth said smiling. A little head nodded in response.

‘How’s yer mornin’ been? He asked them.

‘Well, we took a walk and looked for snails...’

‘two snail’ Judith cut in.

‘We found two snails, we read the same book about ten times, took a single bite out of three separate apples, had an early lunch then came up here to play.’ Beth sighed ‘it’s been a long morning. She’s been great just...same thing every day y’know?’ She squeezed the little girl tighter, she loved Judith, loved spending time with her, but some days it really did drag.

Daryl nodded ‘same shit different day out there too’

‘Shit’ Judith repeated.

Beth giggled. ‘Shhh’ she murmured.

‘Shit’ Judith said again to the same response.

‘Don’ wan yer Dad to hear ya sayin’ that Ass Kicker, might start thinkin’ Beth’s a bad unfluence on ya’ Daryl said.

‘Oh I think theres a long list of people she could have hear it from’ Beth retorted ‘she sat next to Abraham at dinner last night, so who knows what she picked up there’.

‘Shit’ Judith said again.

‘We gotta distract her or it’s all I’ll hear all afternoon’ Beth said, standing up and wandering over to the crate of baby toys they’d accumulated. At first it had seemed endless but after a few weeks they’d played with everything over and over again, she was out of ideas when Daryl said to Judith

‘Want me to build you a fort?’

‘Fort?’ the toddler tried out the new word.

He looked up at Beth ‘Go get some sheets and pillows, I’ll move that couch and figure something out.’ He looked down to Judith ‘Secret fort, yer gonna like it’.

‘You’re serious?’ she questioned.

He nodded his head ‘Gonna be a serious fort.’  

Beth left the room with a bemused smile on her face. It wasn’t often she saw Daryl carefree like this. She gathered some spare linen and returned to find the furniture re-organised. They made a game of setting it up, playing hide and seek with Judith under the sheets, watching her dance beneath them. Beth threw a sheet over her head pretending to be a ghost and was surprised that Daryl briefly joined in. Once it was finished they all climbed in.

‘Fort’ Judith announced again.

‘That’s right, great word’ Beth said leaning over to kiss the toddlers cheeks.

Judith occupied herself bouncing up and down on the pillows under the sheets of their roof. Beth looked over at Daryl with a smile on his face.

‘I’ve never seen you like this before’ she declared. He lay there, waiting for her to go on, so she threw herself back to lie next to him and continued ‘mucking around with us like this, almost silly. It was nice’ she said.

He reached out to grab her hand ‘don’t always get the chance. Don’t want her missin’ out on bein’ a kid though. I know what that’s like, wan’ better for her.’

‘She’s lucky, to ‘ave you. We’re both to lucky’ Beth added then turned to kiss his cheek.

 At that Judith jumped in between them.

‘Fort’ she said again.

‘Well at least she’s stopped saying that other word’ Beth said. Judith lay herself down to snuggle in between Daryl and Beth.

‘Sing?’ she asked.

‘You still sing to her?’ Daryl asked. He hadn’t heard Beth sing since that night in the funeral home. He’d wanted to ask her about it but didn’t want to upset her.

‘Sometimes’ she whispered back. She still loved to sing, she just didn’t want to make a specatacle of herself. Even if she’d stepped back out of the shadows a little these past few weeks, enough to feel something like her old self, she still wasn’t ready to be that little songbird again. Somehow it felt wrong now. With Judith it was different, they played CDs and sang along, Beth sang to settle her to sleep. It was functional.

‘Sing’ Judith demanded again so Beth did. She sang softly and slowly, self consciously almost.

 _‘_ _When I find myself in times of trouble_  
Mother Mary comes to me  
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be’

She finished and turned to face them again. Somehow it didn’t feel wrong anymore, singing out loud, not for Daryl anyway.

‘Keep singin’ he whispered.

‘Thought my singin’ annoyed you?’ she said with a smirk.

‘Not anymore, it’s nice to hear it’

‘Sing’ Judith spoke, as though agreeing with him, and so Beth did.


End file.
